RP: NSV Furi'ken [NSV-Furi'ken] Prologue - Into Darkness We Go!

Stairwell

The seemingly unflappable Agent looked at the handiwork of the grenade with an ear angled at Chi'ka. It certainly wasn't supposed to do that. She'd picked a Flashbang. Either it was defective, or something more was going on. It almost made her tail twitch.

Ay'indri crossed the threshold, pistol at the ready and its companion knife was as well. Pulverised stone dust, burnt fur, the heated scent of metal and the distinct tang of explosives tickled her little nose. Sneezing was not an option. Not thinking about it helped, especially after crossing over into the still settling mess. The issue with the flashbang still tugged at her tail. With some ease, squashing that niggling thought for later review mere seconds before something reached her hearing.

The Agent stopped, her ears flitting about. That noise curdled her expression even further. So it was not just a localized event, it seemed the enemy may have spread over a wider area. A moment's consideration and she was walking forward again slower checking doors and corners as she went.

Stairwell

If there was one sound Chii'ka hated to hear, it was one that just didn't belong *inside* of a military base, worse? It was one that was underground, and what made it go beyond the worse part for her?. "That better not be what I think it is," she lowered her pistol and approuched the door, she displayed two fingers and then slowly pushed the door open.

Beyond the door was a hallway, long, and leading toward a sealed blastdoor that - despite the dimly lit surroundings - had very obvious scouring marks on it from heavy explosives. It was, in fact, these very explosives that caused Ay'indri's grenade to be such a booming success - just a few feet from the door was a hole that went through the metal floor, through the concrete foundation, and into a large warehouse beneath. The area immediately around the hole was almost completely black, with the blast marks making it obvious that the hole was the epicenter of the explosion.

The sound heard earlier was heard once more, this time closer, and was followed by a flash that illuminated a room off to the side. Chi'ka pointed toward it.

NSV Furi'Ken
Cargo Hold

The tank fired, it's shell wizing by the group and landing just a few feet from the ramp. One of the soldiers panicked, and fled from their cover - only to get shot in the back by the enemy whom were hiding behind their tank, and they weren't stepping out.

"Come out!" Someone shouted. "Give up and you'll be allowed to live, keep fighting and you'll just be an ornament for our tank!"

Stairwell

Inspecting the handiwork of the grenade's chain reaction, the Daur agent went about the task with a cool detachment. Sounds drew her attention from the corpses and debris to what the Sere'ta'kon seemed interested in. Picking her way through the detritus of death and the particularly nasty hole in the floor she came to a stop just short of Chi'ka. Ear angling forward, the Agent didn't even breathe as she listened. There. There it was. . . the sound soured the impassive expression on her face to something akin to being told to handle a particularly grueling, or disgusting job.

With some small muttering, Ay'indri left their leader where she was before going to pick through the bodies and debris. If it was what the older Daur thought it was, along with the churn of her tummy after hearing it herself they needed something better than Needle or Laser pistols. Coming to one of the less wrecked of the hallway's adjoining rooms; after a careful inspecting all she'd found were a few pistols, a rifle and shattered concrete and a intact smoke grenade which she clipped to her belt.

It may have looked funny, or possibly even insubordinate to suddenly pull a 180° degree turn to check the dead, dying (which she killed) and mess that had been a hallway. She continued this meticulous search until something caught her eye. It was a case similar to a briefcase in size. It was toughened black plastic underneath the rock dust but it seemed to be intact. Before even touching it, the wary young Daur walked around it, shuffled closer, frowned some more and finally moved to the front of the thing. It sat on a packing crate almost as tall as she was. Cursory inspection complete, Ay'indri eyed the locks.

They were simple clasps. Quick to unclasp, she took her knife, edged to the side of the case and used the sharp metal implement to slowly lift the top open. It was all very standard, but it didn't stop the pleased rumble in the back of her throat. Inside were a series of blocks each cradled in its own comfy, foam bed. Each one was wrapped in clear plastic with an olive drab packing band around them. On the interior were also a set of detonators. Reasonably sure that the case was safe, stable, and not going to blow up in her face she returned to the hall with it in hand.

Chi'ka would soon find the Agent returning to her with a case firmly in hand. The insignia embossed on the front was that of the Navy done up in scarred chrome paint. Ay'indri lifted an eyebrow upon her return and opened the case to show what she'd found. Four blocks of L-24 explosives. After showing such a boon off, she also nodded down to the grenade of which was banded in yellow: a Smoke Grenade. If that sound they'd heard came across their path now, it was going to have an incredibly bad day.

NSV Furi'Ken
Cargo Hold

"This is bad..." Olffa was all ready to jump out and sprint towards the mob a second ago, but watching the enemies' efficiency in cutting down their poor fellow soldier... It didn't do wonders for her confidence. "I... I don't think we can close the distance to them, Micalio... Not like this..."

A few extra seconds of thought. The fox's green eyes looked dour, ears lowered down in distaste for what was to come.

"...You really can't... Make it rain in here or nothing? Like him ship does when it thinks there is fires?" They spoke cautiously from their position down on the floor, having rather less shame about lying on their belly their friend. Clattering around with that data pad that was always hung around their neck, they desperately were trying to look up something that could help them, yet knew nothing about things like the ship's gravity system or any other tricks they could pull.

The only other option was to pretend to give up, time a good distraction, and then try fighting like five guys at once with nothing but their claws, but the security fox really didn't fancy their chances with that one.

Still, there had to be a way to draw the enemy out...

NSV Furi'Ken
Cargo Hold

Micalio was also frantically wracking her brain for options, with no direct connection to the ship's engineering she couldn't do much beyond using some of the smaller systems and exterior devices. Hearing the smaller fox ask her about their options she snapped out of her intense thoughts and scratched her chin, the fire suppression systems could act as a distraction provided they hadn't been disabled or sabotaged.

"Olffa, whatever happens it's been fun and you're one of the funniest, most interesting people I've met." It was a little morbid yes but her tone suggested she expected to come out on top, the eyes behind her goggles flicked from side to side rapidly. The tank hadn't moved much from the top of the cargo ramp, probably for fear of being flanked when they didn't know the size of the force on the ship.

They were playing defensive while also holding the strongest offense piece in their favour, not bad tactics. "Before we think of making a move we need something strong enough to overpower that tank, or a way to take control of it once we do make the move. Do you think you could overpower the driver or gunner if given cover or a distraction?"

Micalio didn't like the idea of the security officer going alone but she was small, and a much better fighter than herself so it was unfortunately the most logical decision. "I might be able to do something with the sprinklers and the crates around here, I wonder if we have an anti tank launcher lying around anywhere?"

NSV Furi'Ken
Cargo Hold

Something stirred beneath the pile of friendly corpses that had been blow from the upper walkway, a golden-brown tail emerged before two ears and a shaggy head of similarly-coloured hair followed suit - despite being covered in the entrails of his friends and looking slightly disorientated the clean-shaven medic had a plan. Bogdanov shook the lingering hint of a concussion from his head and rummaged around one of the bodies as the tank focussed its attention on the other two. Then he found it - a partially used grenade belt that was respectfully plucked from half a corpse.

"Grenades going out!" shouted a voice before the owner broke cover, ripping a pin and tossing the belt towards the tank before his blood-soaked yet relatively unharmed form slid into cover next to the other two friendly foxes - hands clamped down firmly over his ears as the boy squinted his eyes shut tightly and curled the bushy tail around his own form.

NSV Furi'Ken
Cargo Hold

There was a powerful bang as the grenades all exploded simultaneously, for a few seconds everyone would hear the sounds of enemy soldiers as they screamed in pain, but the sounds quickly died off as the fire engulfed the tank. Think plumes of black smoke shrouded the area, and for awhile everything was quiet, then groans could be heard from the smoke and at least two of the enemy soldiers - one being the soldier who spoke earlier in threats - crawled out of the smoke, missing both legs, an arm, and almost half of the face while the other one was missing both legs and had a large section of the torso burned away.

Stairwell

Chi'ka smiled at Ay'indri, and at what the Daur had found. "This will be perfe-" her voice was drowned out by the sound's of another explosion, but this one was different from the previous.

NSV Furi'Ken
Cargo Hold

The boy kept himself protectively curled up for a moment longer than necessary, of course the cacophonous explosions in such a confined space still made his ears hurt but it was better than the result if he hadn't hunkered down. Bogdanov's face screwed up as the acrid scent of burning daur flesh and their melted body armour found its way to his nostrils, taking a second to wipe the blood away with his sleeves before two round, golden eyes slowly opened up.

"Did we get them all?" he asked the two other foxes, giving them a wide and toothy smile of optimism from his spot on the floor - Bogdanov rolled over and crouched down low, edging a single eye past their cover to view the destruction he had caused. Not bad for a medic, granted he was more used to patching people up than tearing them apart but he was glad nonetheless.

The boy's shaggy head of hair gave a single nod that caused his long ears to bounce around even as he turned to face the ladies once more and sat on the floor, "Are you two okay? I'm not sure if you can tell but I'm a healer underneath all this blood and muck" he queried, his head tilting to the side as the two friendlies were studied for any obvious injuries.

NSV Furi'Ken
Cargo Hold

Olffa's ears were already whistling from the tank gun going off, so when Barbanov's grenade belt went off, it came as a complete surprise. Hair standing on end and both hands clasped to their painfully overstimulated nose, the fox didn't dare move until they realised this was actually friendly support, and the medic came charging into their shared cover.

"YOU-YOU-... GOOD ARM!" The orange thing yelled, half shell-shocked, half expecting the short brown-haired man to be an enemy, sword already out. They didn't look injured... but the way that they were yelling meant their hearing probably wasn't doing too good. "STAY COVER, GOING NOW!"

Micalio seemed okay. That was good at least. No time to loose, then.

From a runner's crouch into a vertical lunge, they grabbed onto the top of the crate pile and rapidly clambered up and over. No way of knowing if that tank was still active, but it should take time to aim up, at least. Had to deal with those soldiers before they could recuperate, too.

Rapidly closing the distance, they then got under the firing arc of the large cannon, and looked to make sure that the enemy combatants were actually down. Looks like they were burnt up, but possibly still alive?... She wanted to capture them alive for questioning later, but instead hugged up right next to the tracks, wary of any concussed or confused crew members suddenly realising she was there.

Crawling around the back. Should be obvious if the engine was running, at least.

Couldn't hear anything but a constant shrieking ring. Couldn't smell anything but a caustic smog of burnt flesh.

Best not to think about it. Best to keep your mind on the job and keep moving ahead.

NSV Furi'Ken
Cargo Hold

Micalio covered her ears and shut her eyes tight as the grenades went off, only to open them and see a boy sitting beside them she hadn't seen a moment ago. Hearing his introduction and putting the pieces together she figured he must have been the one to throw the grenades, her head was still a little hazy and ears were ringing so she missed part of what both he and Olffa said while she tried to recover. Seeing the security fox dashing up and over towards the tank Micalio steeled herself to dash out in the opposite direction to provide a distraction, one of them would reach the tank at least.

"Thanks for the save back there sir, we owe you big time so forgive me for asking but mind coming along to help out some more?" Micalio flashed a grin at him before sprinting almost dead on towards the tank, she noticed Olffa had almost made it to the side at this time and decided to swerve several times before sliding up against its front to try avoid becoming its only target.

NSV Furi'Ken
Cargo Hold

Barbanov nodded at the ladies and flashed them a kind smile in return before they each charged off into the fray, "I'm always happy to help-" he began speaking but as the boy reached a hand down for his pistol, it instead found nothing but a ripped up holster that sent a frown across the fox's face. No worries with that then, at least he still had his sword!

The healer crouched behind the crate and drew a sword from his side, letting out a small huff of air to steel his nerves before he rounded the corner to charge the tank with one hand across his face to help fight through the smoke that threatened to drown the boy. He was still concerned with the tank and it's crew no matter how convincingly the tank played dead, so with a small leap onto the less flame-covered half of the tank's front, he clambered up and ran over to behind the tank's hatch to begin prying it open.

If there really were people still alive in there it would be an easy enough task to hide behind the metal lid and stab inwards hap-hazardly.

Stairwell

Standing there, wound tight with a case chocked full of high-grade plastic explosives, the Agent watched as the words died on Chi'ka's lips. Dull thwumps echoed further down from their position. Lips pursed with an ear angled toward the doorway, Ay'indri tried to make heads or tails on just what this new sound was. Too quiet to be the deafening roar of a cannon. Could be handheld explosives perhaps a launcher maybe. Or so she thought.

Just to be safe her pistol was clutched firmly in hand once more. The other held the case tight. Trying to shrink herself against the adjoining wall, Ay'indri risked a peek further down from their position. Just quick enough to quickly see before darting back. Just what was going on out there?

NSV Furi'Ken
Cargo Hold

Olffa looked backwards and forwards at the small medic hopping up onto the tank, eyes wide, with their ears darting backwards and their bushy tail coiling with intensity. For a split second, they actually believed that the male fox might pull the heavy metal hatch right off, taking their confidence as the deployment of some secret city-folk technology. They'd seen some truly incredible sights in the past few months...

But, erm, this apparently wasn't one of them...

Taking the distraction for what it was worth, the security fox ran over to one of the fire stations out of the tank's firing arc, dragging an extinguisher out of the bracket, and then lugging it back to the scene of the inferno.

The gaseous white cloud wasn't totally just used to stop Barbanov from getting barbecued, though; Olffa stuck the nozzle right up against the vents of the sparking electrical generator, giving it a blast of foam and attempting to totally fry the internals.

They'd dropped a communicator into the toilet before. The blue sparks here should work the same way, right?

NSV Furi'Ken
Cargo Hold

While Barbano worked the hatch, there were sounds of people inside and the type that meant that something was wrong; while Barbano was trying to get it open - it seemed someone inside was trying to do the same thing as the mechanism used to open it was slowly working its way loose on its own...

Meanwhile the fire-extinguisher seemed to be doing it's work, at least the engine wasn't sparking anymore, but perhaps someone should explain why the turret was beginning to move a bit...

Stairwell

Through the opening Ay'indri would notice that the decks observation lounge, typically used by soldiers who off duty or base personnel who just wanted a quiet place, was blown completely open - as if done by a large explosive, through it it was easy to see what was below, a tank partially engolfed in black smoke with three Daur nestled around it, with a slew of bodies scattered around the tank.

NSV Furi'Ken
Cargo Hold

The Healer could feel the hatch moving with him and so gave a little sigh of relief, that relief was pushed aside though when he realised it wasn't the mechanism working with him - it was people trying to work the mechanism to get to him. Barbanov lifted his lightly-seared hand away from the hot hatch with a slight wince as he stood there and nursed the limb for a second, it was only superficial damage and he could more than live with that.

"Psst," the fox-boy hissed out to the two ladies he was with, trying to get their attention. "Something is still alive in here, they're trying to get out," Barbanov whisper-shouted at his allies, making sure they were ready for what was coming as he gripped the sword tighter and angled it to stri-

The soft whirring of some mechanism moving made his golden-brown ears twitch in response as the sound pierced through the background din, the clean-shaven lad whipped around with wide eyes and a tail that instinctively puffed itself up in response to the new threat. The hatch began sneaking open but shut again with a crunch of fingers and yelp of pain as Bogdanov took a few bounding steps toward the turret, dropping into a slide, turning onto his abdomen, and pressing his boots against the turret.

The Healer had his work cut out for him today, blowing up a tank (even if only partially finishing the job), kicking a turret and making sure no nasties left the tank to hurt any friendlies - but he wasn't done yet, Bogdanov laid there wedged between the turret and the hatch with his soot-covered armour, still aiming the sword towards the metal hatch expectantly as he let out a few struggling grunts against the turret's mechanisms.

Cargo hold

Olffa didn't hear her medic companion due to the continuing ringing in her ears, but fortunately still picked up on the vibrations caused by him slamming his butt down onto the other hatch.

"Come out with your hands up! Y'all got one chance not to be cooked up in there like me mum's pies!" The short fox yelled out, clattering the pommel of their sheathed sword against the side of the turret. "We got lotsa guys out here, don't make us rough you up!"

Stairwell

It had come as no surprise that this place wasn't spared from her deadly flashbang. After her peek, Ay'indri eased herself back against the wall. Looking to her compatriots, the Agent looked to the Sere'ta'kon as she spoke: "There's a Creniya Tank down there. Smoking, but seems to at least be partially operational. Three people are down there with it, Daur from what I saw." ducking down, the small female fox looked to the case then to the now 'Open Air' observation lounge. She left it behind in safety before shuffling carefully inside.

There was the groan of metal fatigue and the brittle crackle of blown out glass as she stepped lightly over the shards. Remnants of a well-stocked bar were to her left while a nest of chairs and a now shredded couch to her right. A moment's look behind the now splintered bar was rewarded with three things. A notepad that wasn't too badly mangled, a much too gnawed on pen and a roll of tape near to its end. Not much. Not even a miniature of distilled Yuka'shane juice to be had.

Taking out her own communicator, Ay'indri aimed it down toward the three shapes. Surely one of them had a communicator on them. If the base's main communication system was compromised, short-ranged wireless should still work. A few taps on the keys and a handshake signal was sent on its way down towards the three. She was placing a call to them, any of them.

It was taking a chance she knew, but it could potentially pay off.

Cargo Bay

Micalio was still by the front of the tank when Barbanov and Olffa began trying to get in at the terrorist crew manning it, she could have jumped up to and try and help them but it was likely her presence wouldn't do much more than get in the way of the other two, Barbanov seemed to be trying to keep the hatch closed now while attempting to stop the turret rotating, Olffa was trying to smoke them out with a, fire extinguisher? Well it was certainly creative.

The mechanic knew that if the turret was moving there was still some functionality in the tank despite the onslaught of explosions, the fox flicked her tail side to side as she thought. It seemed like it was just the three of them going up against this thing for now with no signs of reinforcements helping out, they may be busy with other ground troops? Unsure of the best course of action the daur spoke up to help out Olffa's ruse, "Yeah we got a dozen armed soldiers out here waiting to tear you apart, if you wanna live do as she says."

Cargo Bay

Barbanov felt like a bit of a dick now, he was sure that crunch he felt as the Healer dashed across the tank was probably somebody's metacarpals being crushed when the weight of one whole fox boy was applied to a metal hatch - they were enemies sure but his side weren't monsters or anything, he'd be sure to help patch the enemies up if they came out peacefully.

The Daur let out a small groan of effort as he continued to push the turret away from the two friendlies but at least he was managing to keep it up, suddenly the communicator on his belt began making a small racket to let him know somebody was trying to reach him - but Barbanov was a little busy right now...

"Hey uh..." he began speaking before realizing he didn't know the engineer's name, his cheeks reddened slightly as he said the first thing out of the top of his head to get her attention. "Uhm tall... redheaded cutie," Barbanov said, giving a gulp before continuing, "could you answer my communicator for me? somebody is trying to call it - THANKS!" he finally finished, not giving away their lack of personnel of the tank-crew.

The Healer looked back to the hatch the first chance he got and hoped he hadn't embarrassed anyone too much, readying his blade to strike if if turned out the enemies were not going to wave a white flag at them.

Cargo Bay

The moving of the turret suddenly came to a grinding halt and for a moment everything was still, then the hatch opened - but only by a small amount - then suddenly three objects, dark grey with two having a blue ring and another a green, came tumbling out of the opening.